IN the capital, King’s Landing, members of the court vie for power and try to stay alive under cruel young King Joffrey (Irish actor Jack Gleeson, 21), who is about to marry Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer, 32).

And new character Oberyn Martell (Pedro Pascal, 38) is set on vengeance against the Lannisters.

Meanwhile, across the Narrow Sea, exiled princess Daenerys ­Targaryen (Emilia Clarke, 26) is stalled in her plans to retake the throne as she tries to keep order in the slave cities she’s liberated.

THE amount of sex and nudity shown in Game Of Thrones, especially in scenes that are incidental to the plot, has been the focus of much of the criticism aimed at the series.

Actor Stephen Dillane, 57, who portrays religious nut Stannis Baratheon, likened the series’ explicit scenes to “German porn from the 1970s”. It has also created the phrase “sexposition” – when characters explain big swathes of plot while having sex.

READY FOR BATTLE: The Wildlings, or The Free Folk, are disregarded by the People of the Seven Kingdoms [HBO]

WHILE barely an episode goes by without a cast member being bumped off, losing an appendage or generally ending up a bloody mess, the most controversial scene so far has been the Red Wedding.

This took place in the penultimate episode of the third season and it became an internet trend to film people’s reactions and put the videos online.

Search “red wedding reactions” to see some of the funniest.

AND don’t get too excited if you’re a fan of, well, any of the characters. Trailers released for season four contain the doom-laden slogan All Men Must Die, which spells trouble for the men and women of Westeros. And the usually-confident Tyrion is in particular danger.

Show co-creator David Benioff says: “Some of the most bloody and shocking scenes come at the end of this season.”

Emilia Clarke, who plays fan favourite Daenerys, is naturally brunette. She has to spend two hours before filming having her hair styled into blonde braids. Her character is also known as the Mother of Dragons, thanks to the three fire-breathers that accompany her.

Maisie Williams dropped out of school to pursue her role as girl fighter Arya. She didn’t sit her GCSEs but last year tweeted: “For the few of you who were disappointed by your grades I would just like to say that I have no qualifications to my name and won’t have for a while. There is more than one route into your dream job.”

David Bradley, who plays evil Lord Walder Frey, has become a firm fixture in fantasy films. He also played caretaker Argus Filch in the Harry Potter series.

CELEBRITY fans include Barack Obama, Madonna – who dressed up as Daenerys for a recent party – Elijah Wood, Ed Sheeran and Seth Rogen.

WITH author Martin taking up to six years to write each novel, the show’s creators, David Benioff and DB Weiss, say they don’t plan to wait until he has brought the series to a close. Using a general outline of the final two books, they could tie up the story before the novels are out.